The Pilgrimage: To Link The Flame
by MrSweatyFupa
Summary: The new chosen undead begins his journey. To complete the pilgrimage that many have failed. Is he another pawn of fate, or will he succeed becoming the next successor?
1. The Beginning

This is a story. A story that has been lived many times, over and over again. Each is different in its own way, but each still follows the same path. You may ask, "What story would this be?". In due time, you will find out. It all begins here.

* * *

><p>I awoke in a dark cell. How did I end up here? I had no such memory of anything.<p>

"Is anyone there?" I shouted. No response.

Great. I still had no idea as to who I was or where I could possibly be. I quickly decided that sitting here in this disgusting filth would get me nowhere. I scavenged through the worn down cell to find some way out. There were two or three mouse sized holes, but obviously, I couldn't fit through them. Something creaked above me. I looked up, and a dead body fell from the sky. I scurried out of the way of its descent. I looked up to the ceiling to see a trap door, and a man clad in armor kneeling at its edge. I looked down at the body.

"Thank y-" I said, but to no one, for when I looked up, the man was gone. Attached to the corpse's belt was an iron key. Hopefully, it would open the door. I walked to the cell door and inserted the key. The key was very rusted and only turned about halfway before breaking in the keyhole. I sighed and did the only thing I could possibly think of, ramming the the cell door down with all of my might. It wasn't an easy task, but the door gave way on the third try.

I walk down a long dark hall, water pooling at the base of the wall on my left. I looked to the ceiling. Dirty water was dripping from the cracks in the brick ceiling. Was it raining? I had a feeling that this structure, obviously some sort of asylum, hadn't been used in years. I approached a rusted ladder at the end of the hall and looked up. I quickly glance back down the hallway. Suddenly, a loud moaning sound emanated from the other end. This was fuel to my fire. I climbed as quickly as I could.

Was I afraid?

No. I just didn't know what to expect, and really didn't want to find out.

* * *

><p>I walked out into a bright room, covering my eyes from the invading sunlight. I looked ahead, seeing a dying flame sitting in the room's center. I decided to try and get my head clear and rest for a moment, but the last ember of the flame went out as soon as I sat down. I sighed. There was certainly no relief in this godforsaken place. I suddenly had the urge to stand again. Something in me made me reach my hand towards the pile of ashes. I focused, and the ashes ignited into a blistering flame. The sudden ignition of the once dead fire surprised me, causing me to take a step back.<p>

That wasn't normal.

I tried with all my might to remember something, anything, but came up with not even a thought. I looked at the rags I was wearing, hoping that it would trigger a memory, or even give me a clue as to who I was, but nothing clicked. It was almost as if I never existed until this point in time. But that couldn't be true.

Could it?

After a good amount of rest in front of the fire that I created from thin air, I decided that it was time to move on.

I got up and looked around the area with more detail than I had previously. There was a very large stone door, and another cell door, but the cell door looked barred shut from the other side. I knew that there was no way of ramming that one open. So I decided to try the big door in front of the fire. I pushed with all of my strength, and, slowly, it opened. As I walked through the large room that was now before me, I heard a booming roar from above. I noticed a giant hole in the ceiling, and standing over it was a giant, terrifying creature. I was paralyzed with fear.

I slowly made my way through the room, hoping that was roaring at anything but me. I figured I was in the clear until the thing suddenly came crashing down in front of me, putting me face to face, or rather face to stomach, with the hulking beast. It had reptilian skin, and vicious, bloody teeth. It roared, dripping spit on my clothes. It brought its large stone hammer up, aiming to crush me. I panicked, and dodged its swing. the attack smashed through a couple of pots, revealing an open door and a stairway. Figuring that anywhere was better than here, I ran through it as fast as I could.

As I proceeded down the stairs, I heard something slam against the ground. I turned around and realized that a steel gate had closed off the way in. The beast would never be able to reach me, but now, I was trapped. I had no choice but to continue down the stairs. At the bottom of them, there lie another pile of ashes, like the fire before. I decided to test if I could light this one as well. I reached my hand towards it. It ignited brilliantly, almost brighter than the last. Something in my head clicked. A bonfire. That must have been what it was called. It felt right, but with no memory to guide me on these things, I had been completely in the dark on what seemed to be ordinary in this world. I sat down to collect my thoughts.

I was slowly growing worried of the dangers ahead. I had nothing but my bare fists, and with that being said, I knew I stood no chance against what lie beyond. I was nearly killed by the monster upstairs. I finally got the nerve to start moving again, but with reluctance, not wanting to leave the fire's side. I walked through a doorway, and there was a man with a bow at the end of the hall. It wasn't the man who dropped the corpse. It was someone else.

"Hello?" I called out to him. "Sir!"

He said nothing. He just stood there, motionless. I approached him slowly, attempting to attract his attention. It worked, but not the way I expected. As I got closer he raised his bow and proceeded to shoot arrows at me. I dodged most of them but got hit in my leg while running into a side room. I noticed a skeleton on the ground, which had a sword and shield in its hands. I grabbed them, testing thier weight. Not exactly the best, but now I could defend myself.

I walked out into hallway with my shield raised to deflect the barrage of arrows. As I got closer I noticed that the man firing at me wasn't a man at all, not quite. It looked like it once was, but it was almost as if it was simply a skeleton with skin. What evil was this? I couldn't dwell on the matter, however. I had to focus on surviving. In order to find out who I was, and what my purpose was, I could allow no skin and bones monster to stop me. I charged forward with great speed, sword prepared to strike. The undead creature tried running away as I proceeded to get closer.

I wouldn't let him escape.

With my hand clenched tight on the sword, I swung fast and hard, landing two blows on the creature. It was injured but not dead. I finished it off with a third and final strike, but as the sword sunk through its chest, I grazed my leg on a rock, reminding me of the pain that I had felt there moments ago. I looked down to my leg after pulling the sword out of the monster. I had felt it bleeding for a few minutes now, but the blood was an odd color. It was black instead of red. I was about to roll up my pantleg to check the wound, but I was startled to see that my hands were similar to that of the creature that I killed. I removed my shirt, and was surprised to find skin that wasn't human. Or, at least, I didn't think so. I checked for a pulse at my neck, but there was nothing. This was very odd. I decided to continue moving, hoping that I could find something to treat my wound ahead.

I went up a set of stairs and found myself behind a wall of fog. I wasn't exactly sure what I would find behind it, but I knew that I couldn't stay here. I had to keep moving forward. I walked through it, and turned right. I came upon a staircase. With my shield raised, I slowly proceeded to move up. I head the sound of stone cracking, and a boulder began heading right for me. Out of instinct, I jumped off the staircase onto a lower set. The boulder crashed into a stone wall, revealing a room. I walked in, and was surprised to find the man who had dropped the corpse into my cell. I rushed to his side, figuring that, maybe, I could get some answers, or at least an idea of what the hell was going on.

He looked over towards me. "You made it out. Thank goodness." He said. "I'm done for, I'm afraid."

"You'll be fine. We can both get out if you come with me." I said, trying to rouse him up.

"No. Nothing can save me. First i'll lose my sanity. I'll wither and die. Then, I'll come back as a hollow, as is the fate of the undead." He said.

"The undead...?" I asked. I looked at my hand.

"Before I die, I have a favor to ask of you." He said. "Hear me out. Won't you?"

"Of course." I replied.

"Regrettably, I have failed in my mission. But perhaps you can keep the torch lit. There is an old saying in my family; Thou who art Undead, art chosen. In thine exodus from the Undead Asylum, maketh pilgrimage to the land of Ancient Lords. When thou ringeth the Bell of Awakening, the fate of the Undead thou shalt know." He said. "Well, now you know... and I can die with hope in my heart."

"But where do I go?" I asked.

He chuckled. "You'll know when you get there. Oh, one more thing. Here, take these." He said, handing me a key and a green glass vial of golden, glowing liquid. "Its an Estus Flask, an Undead favourite. The key opens the door, just up there." He said, pointing to the top of the stairs with a bit of strain.

"I..." I stuttered. "Thank you."

"I would hate to harm you after death. you should leave." He said.

"But I don't even know your name." I complained.

He looked at me. "Oscar. Oscar of Astora." He replied. "Go now... And thank you."

I nodded at him, and turned to walk out of the room. I hesitated, but only for a second before moving on.

I walked back up the stairs and fought through a few more undead soldiers. These guys were seriously getting on my nerves. According to Oscar, I was an undead, too, and so was he. Every bit of information that he gave me only made things worse, creating more questions than it gave answers. The biggest one now was why couldn't I remember anything, but Oscar could? It was too late to ask now. I had to keep moving. I looked up from where I was standing, facing another barrier of fog. I walked through it and found myself on a balcony above the room in which I was ambushed by the creature with the hammer earlier. I looked over the balcony, hoping that the room was empty.

Of course it wasn't.

My old nemesis, the Asylum Demon, stood below, unaware that I was right on top of him. I had the upper hand. I dropped on him from above with great force. He looked up just in time to get a facefull of sword. He roared, dropping his hammer and reaching for me, the blood dripping from his forehead blinding him. He got a grip on my torso and threw me across the room. I got up as he recovered. My sword was still planted in his head. I needed it, or else I would be killed quickly. He swung his hammer, breaking a support pillar. If he could bring his hammer directly down into the ground, then maybe I could run up to his head and pull my sword out. I ran towards him and threw a rock, tricking him into thinking that I was in front of him. He brought his hammer down, and I grabbed the hilt of my sword and ripped it out. He roared a mighty roar and swung directly at me, hitting me back across the room. I hit the wall hard, then hit the floor. I reached for my Estus Flask and drank a sip of it. I instantly felt better. I got up, feeling like new. I charged the beast with my newfound strength and began slicing its stomach. After what felt like hours, the disgusting beast toppled, its flesh melting. A key sat in the fleshy ooze. I picked it up and shook off the blood. As I went walking towards the door, I felt a sensation that I couldn't put into words. Something filled me, and even greater sensation of strength than when I drank from the flask. It wore off on mere moments, however, leaving me feeling drained.

I used the key to open the door, which revealed a pathway to the top of the mountain the Asylum rested upon. I was slowly growing stronger, which was a good thing, because if Oscar was telling the truth, then I was sure this journey wouldn't be an easy one. I decided to look over my gear for a moment. When I finished preparing to move on, I started walking up the path until I reached the end. I was greeted by the view of a mountain filled skyline. While I started into the distance, I heard the flapping if wings beneath me.

Heavy, heavy wings.

Suddenly, a giant bird grabbed me by my shoulders and whipped me up off of the ground. I was startled as it flew me up, far above the ground. I punched its leg, but realized that it was not the best idea. I decided that wherever the thing was going to take me, I had better hope that it wasn't to my doom, because there wasn't much at all that I could do about it.


	2. Human Again

The bird dropped me in a unfamilar place. I hit the ground feet first, barely able to take the impact of my brittle legs against the stone ground. I looked up from the ground to feel the light warmth of an unlit bonfire against my face. I raised my hand to it and watched it go up in flames as I sat down to get warm. The icy air pierced the thin rags I was wearing. I was going to need a warmer set of clothes eventually, or I was going to freeze to death. As I looked around, I noticed a man sitting across from me, seated upon a broken pillar that lay on its side. I locked eyes with him, startled by his presence. He returned my stare with a small grin.

"Hello." He said.

"...Hello." I said cautiously.

There was a moment of awkward silence.

"How... long have you been there?" I asked.

"Longer than you have, Undead." He replied.

"Excuse me?" I asked.

"You've been cursed with the fate of the Undead, have you not?" He asked. "Don't think too much of it. You are not the first, nor the last. But why are you here? That is the question. Not salvation, surely? There is no salvation here."

"Something like that." I replied.

He chuckled. "You would have been better off rotting in the Asylum." He said.

"You're a fool to believe that." I said defensively.

"Am I?" He asked. "What are you really here for?"

"I'm here to ring the Bell of Awakening."

He chuckled again. "There are actually two bells. One lies deep below the surface, in the poisonous pits of Blighttown. The other is high in the sky, in a church that is infested with Hollows. But you'll never get to them both. No one ever has."

"Thank you for the information, but you'll soon see that you're very wrong." I said as I walked off.

When Oscar bestowed this mission upon me, he left out some important details. He never told me what the ultimate goal was. This made me wonder what else I didn't know. I tried to sort things out in my head. I felt evermore determined to proceed on this mission of mine. Not only to ring the bells but to figure out who I was.

"I'd like to share something with you before you go." The man said.

I looked back at him. I took a few steps towards him, and he reached into a satchel that he had at his side. "Against my better judgement, I want you to have this." He said, holding out his hand.

In his palm was a sinister black flame. Despite the fire being in his hand, he didn't react as if he was burned.

"Humanity is the key to all that exists in this world. To restore it is equivalent to restoring a piece of the puzzle. Of course, I'm likely wasting it on you. There's a high chance you'll amount to nothing and die screaming." He said with a sinister smile, handing me the flame. "But I suppose you'll have to do, be you rubbish or not."

I shrugged him off. What a despicable human being. I held the piece of Humanity, puzzled as to what I could do with it. I don't know what compelled me to do so, but I crushed it in my hand.

The rotten skin that covered my brittle hand lightened, turning a pale white. The skin revitalized itself as the change ran up my arm, spreading quickly to my chest and head. Hair sprouted from my head and stopped short, and the slight blur in my vision disappeared. I looked down at my feet.

I was human.

Now being in my human form, I felt... stronger. Much stronger than I did before.

"Now shoo. I don't owe you anything more." The man said.

What an arrogant bastard.

"I challange you to a fight to the death." I said, unsheathing my sword and shield.

That caught him off guard. "Excuse me?" He asked.

"You heard correctly." I replied, pointing the tip of my sword at him.

He just grinned and chuckled. "You cannot be serious. You wouldn't stand a chance."

"Try me." I shot back.

He looked offended. "How dare you! After all that I've done for you, you would have me dead?"

"I personally think that it would be an improvement. You've been nothing but scum since I met you." I said.

Anger washed over his face. "Very well." He snarled. "I'll make your death slow and painful."

He drew his sword and charged at me, two handing his weapon. He feigned a sideways slash and, with one quick sweeping blow at my legs, he knocked me to the ground.

"You fool! I will end your pathetic journey, here and now!" He said aggressively, raising his sword in a plunging motion for the killing blow.

As he stabbed his sword down towards my chest, I rolled to the left, avoiding his attack at the very last second. He stuck his sword directly in between a crack in the brick. With that quick moment of him being stunned, I saw my opening to get onto my feet. I stood up, swinging my shield in an uppercut and striking him hard in his unprotected face. He retained his grip on the blade, but he was knocked backwards onto the ground.

"A little rusty then, are we?" I taunted.

"You'll not walk away from this alive!" He growled. He regained his footing and swung his sword in a downwards arc, slamming the blade against my shield. His attacks hit hard, the very strike of his steel rattling my teeth. I was unsure of how many more strikes I could take, his attacks connecting one after another. I rolled and sliced at his chainmail, but it did absolutely no damage to him.

"Nice try, but you'll have to do better than that!" He taunted.

At that precise moment, I still held the advantage. But I knew that I would not keep it for long, for my stamina was meek compared to his. I knew that, to get the advantage in the fight, I would have to resort to using his momentum against him.

We both swung our swords with such might that one could likely hear the clash of the metal ringing out into the distance. He was a relentless fighter, but he was not without flaws. Of course, neither was I. We both swung our swords at the same time, locking blades. His two handed fighting style gave him the edge, and he pushed my blade to the side. He stabbed his sword at me, but missed me completely, putting the blade in between my arm and my torso, effectively striking air. I stripped his sword from his hands and flung him at the well behind us. He crashed into its side, breaking chips of stone from it. I ran at him, sword and shield raised. He anticipated the attack and moved out of the way. I ran into the well, but caught myself before I could fall in. The man grabbed my arms, flipped me onto my back, and began attempting to force me down the well.

"You're much more powerful than I previously thought, but you still won't live to see victory!" He shouted in my face. I pushed against his grip with newfound strength. He struggled to keep me pinned as I pushed back, grabbing his shoulders and bringing him to the floor, dropping my sword in the process.

I picked him back up and punched him in the face as hard as I could, then grabbed my sword. He got up from the blow I dealt and ran at me, arms extended in a fit of rage. I move out of the way. He was too slow to realize his mistake, and he tripped over a loose stone, falling into the well. I ran to the edge of the well and peered over. He was hanging on to the edge with one hand, dangling in fear.

"Help!" He cried. "I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!"

I thought about his apology for a moment.

Apology denied.

I raised my sword to his hand and placed the blade along his knuckles.

"What... what are you doing?!" He asked.

I pushed the blade against his skin, drawing blood. He winced.

"I'll do anything! Please! Have mercy!"

I stopped myself from what I was prepared to do. I lowered the blade to my side...

"Thank you! Thank you so much!" He said.

...And I walked back towards the bonfire.

"Hey... hey! Wait!" He shouted. "Come back! Please!"

I sat down at the bonfire and looked into the flame.

"Curse you! Do you hear me?! You are pathetic!" He shouted.

"You sealed your own fate." I said to myself.

After a moment, his shouting stopped. I listened for him to begin yelling once more, but no sounds could be heard.

Faintly, there was the sound of a splash. I closed my eyes and tried to block it out. I essentially just murdered that man. Maybe I didn't kill him directly, but he was dead because of me.

He was dead because of...

So... tired...

* * *

><p>I opened up my eyes. My surroundings were different from when I closed them. I looked down to find that I was standing. Startled, I tripped over my own feet, as I was in the middle of a step. I stumbled into the back of another man. He turned to me with annoyed look on his face.<p>

"Watch where you're walking, Furion." He said.

Who is Furion?

"Furion!" Someone yelled. I turned to the sound of the voice. A man with a thick black beard approached me. "Are you ready to show these maggots what we stand for?"

"What do you mean? What maggots?" I asked.

"Very funny, Furion. Sometimes, your jokes sound a bit too serious, I swear." The man said.

"Uh... yeah." I said. "You know me. Always joking around." I said, chucking nervously.

He gave me a strange look. "Are you feeling alright?" He asked.

I didn't reply. The rest of the soldiers around me chanted words in a language I didn't understand.

I felt something cold touch the side of my face.

Then, I woke up.


	3. Rock and a Hard Place

I'd been sitting in front of this bonfire for hours now, staring into its embers and thinking about my dream. It was too vivid to be a product of my imagination, too real to be just any other dream. It felt somehow familiar, but I couldn't recall anything like it in the short time that I can remember. The first thing that came to my mind when I thought of my past was waking up in that dank and putrid cell, but nothing about being any sort of soldier.

The thing that peaked my interest most of all about the vision was the fact that everyone I interacted with called me by name. Furion, I think they said. I couldn't recall the name, either, but I assumed that, if the dream was more than just a dream, Furion was my name.

I rather liked it. Furion. It rolled off of the tongue nicely.

There was another matter to attend to, however. I had caused the death of a man I hadn't even known. Of course, he sealed his own fate, but I instigated the matter. My justification at the time was that he was, undeniably, being an ass. But that was no reason let him die. I should have pulled him up. Hell, I shouldn't have even challenged him in the first place.

But what truly horrified me was the fact that I didn't feel bad about it. Now that it had happened, I didn't care.

And I had enjoyed it.

I blocked the feeling from my mind and stood. I could see a graveyard not too far from here, but it didn't seem like the kind of place that I should check out first. I decided to walk in the opposite direction, up the cliff face, and see where the road would take me.

* * *

><p>One wall of fog and ten Hollows later, I wound up at another bonfire. There was something strange about these places that didn't agree with me. I was glad for their warmth, but something thickly sinister hung in the air. I sat down and rested my aching joints, observing the room.<p>

There was piles of baskets and bags of unidentified objects, likely rotten and rancid food. There was a staircase, but as my eyes looked around the steps that traced around the room, a large portion of the stairway was destroyed and lay on the ground behind me. There was no way I was getting up that way, unless I enjoyed hurting myself. Near the visible top of the stairs hung a rusty iron ladder. It didn't hang low enough for me to grab, surely, but if I were able to get up there later, I could give myself a sort of a shortcut back to the shrine where the large bird dropped me. I stored the information in my head for later, acknowledging it.

I stood up and walked out of the room, only to be greeted by a quite surprising sight. The Hollows that I had previously killed were now walking about, fully armed. I knew there was something strange about those bonfires. When I sat at them, I noticed something about the Estus Flask that Oscar gave me in the asylum. The yellow Estus liquid inside expanded from the bonfire's heat and refilled the flask back to the brim. No wonder it was favored by the Undead, it was, essentially, a bottomless healing elixir. However, the forces of nature never create something without balancing the other side. I assumed that this same force made the Hollows alive and walking again.

I charged out of the room with sword and shield drawn. The first Hollow who spotted me was dead before he could alert anyone, but the sight of me killing him roused the attention of several others. I looked to my right. Hollows were charging up the stairs, there was no chance that I could run through them. I decided that the left path was the best route, and ran towards a narrow stone bridge, away from the charging enemies.

It wasn't the best choice. Fire and explosions rocked the left side of the bridge, causing me to duck and cover. There were Hollows with firebombs, no doubt about it. I looked up towards where the firebombs were being thrown, and I nearly had a heart attack.

Was that a Drake?!

An enormous Red Drake flew high in the sky, dipping down towards me. I panicked and ran to the other side. The Drake landed in the exact spot that I had once been, roaring a mighty and blood-boiling roar, churning my stomach and hurting my ears. Extreme heat emanated from my right as the Drake spit fire hot enough to roast bone black, killing every Hollow that followed me. It didn't seem like there was any discrimination between the living and the not-so-living in this place. My heart raced as the Drake took flight, blowing corpses and the smell of burnt flesh in all directions. As it flew back towards where it came, I stayed frozen, not wanting to continue.

I steeled my will and slowly advanced far away from where the dragon had been. My leg hurt immensely. I looked down at my right leg to see a burn mark the size of my arm. I pulled my Estus flask from my ragged belt and drank a swig of it. The burned skin turned red, and the black parts shed off, revealing light pink. It itched, but I dare not touch it.

It seemed that the Drake scared off quite a few of the remaining Hollows, and killed the rest. Advancing was a breeze, as I didn't have to worry about too much now.

But the greatest challenge so far was yet to come.

* * *

><p>After a few minutes of walking, I eventually stumbled across an old tower. I had seen it in the distance, but I had no idea what lie within. I decided to open the door and see for myself. When I walked in, the smell of powdered stone and ash filled my nostrils. I coughed and sneezed, but after a moment, I was used to the environment. There was a staircase leading up the tower, and a door, just on the other side of the room. I didn't like the look of how the staircase loomed so far above my head, so I decided to open the door and trek below the tower, not knowing that I made the wrong decision.<p>

The staircase that led below was long and badly lit. I had to tread carefully in order to avoid tripping and falling. As my feet hit the bottom step, I noticed a statue of a man clad in heavy armor placed directly in front of my path. At first, I thought of what a stupid decision it was, just putting a statue in front of a doorway, but I soon realized that I wasn't dealing with a harmless statue.

The "statue" grabbed an enormous bludgeoning weapon from his back and got into a combat stance. I stepped back in surprise.

"I'll kill you if you come any closer." He said in a deep baritone.

"I've done nothing wrong." I replied.

"You aren't wanted here." He said. "I don't like strangers coming where they aren't wanted."

I tried to reason with him. "Just let me pass. I don't want any-"

"This will be your final warning! If you disobey, I will end you!" He said forcefully.

"Will you, now?" I said cockily. "Bring it on."

I underestimated his power. I assumed that, because he was wearing such heavy equipment, it would slow him down. I was wrong.

With one swift blow that connected to my torso, he sent me flying across the room. I hit the wall with the force of a battering ram, shaking dust off the surface of the wall. I hit the ground with a heavy thud, making my muscles ache. Another hit like that, and I would surely be done for. I raised my shield, only to find that I was holding the top half. The bottom half lay on the other side of the floor.

"Feel the wrath of Havel the Rock!" He boomed, raising his enormous shield.

I understood why they called him that.

I turned on my heel and ran up the stairs, trying to buy time for an idea to spark in my head. There was no possibility that I could defeat him in one on one combat, not without some sort of special advantage of my own. The only thing that came to mind was my Estus Flask and the fact that it healed my wounds. After thinking about that for a moment, I dismissed it. There was the chance that Havel could kill me in a single blow, and his speed was equal to mine. Unless I found a weapon that was built to demolish stone, then I didn't see how I could walk away from this alive.

Unless...

I ran up the stairs even faster than before, the gears in my head clicking and turning like clockwork.

When I reached the top of the stairs, I ran the route back to the narrow bridge that I had cowered across earlier. Havel followed me every step of the way, his bloodthirsty nature overcoming any reason.

"Run, little one!" He roared. "Run!"

I scurried to the bonfire and raised my hand to it. The light burned brighter and the bones of the scorched dead began to shake and shudder. Havel looked around him as the bones formed living beings.

He chuckled. The chuckle turned to laughter, which, in turn, changed into mad cackling.

"Is this the best you can do? You might as well just give up!" He snarled.

I smirked. "Sorry. That isn't my style." I said.

A loud, beating whoosh echoed in the air. Havel looked over towards the noise, and was surprised to see that the noise was product of the wings of the Red Drake that I had encountered earlier. I figured that the presence of the dead returning to life was what called the Drake forth in the first place, and it didn't take me long to realize that it might work again.

"Surprise." I said. I ran at him full speed and rolled around his ensuing strike, stunning and staggering him. As I ran to safety, he turned to face the Drake. It landed with an enormous crash in front of him. It bared its teeth and roared in his face.

"I've killed Dragons and Drakes with my naked hands! You'll be no different!" Havel shouted.

He raised his enormous bludgeoning weapon, a weapon that I realized now to be the tooth of a Dragon, and struck the beast's foot. The Drake blew fire in return, and I ran far away from the battle, glad that my plan worked as well as I believed that it would.

I hoped that he would kill the Drake. Otherwise, I could have created an even bigger problem for myself


End file.
